Tax initiative dumped

A MOVE to raise gaming tax on Nevada’s largest casinos has been ditched by a Carson City judge. This is a win for the Nevada Resort Association that puts proponents of the initiative back at square one. The move would have seen an increase on gaming tax to 9% as early as 2015.

In a ruling from the bench, District Court Judge James Todd Russell found the description of the impact of the “Nevadans for a Fair 9% Gambling Revenue Tax” submitted by its backers to be misleading. He pointed to technical errors in the description of the proposal included on the pages being circulated by signature gatherers:

• Proponents described the casinos that would be affected as having “unrestricting” gaming licenses. The technical term is “nonrestricted.”

• It describes the tax as on “gross revenues” of casinos, instead of “gross gaming revenue.”

• It said it would affect manufacturers and distributors, when those would not be affected.

“The court can’t totally re-write the description of effect,” Russell said.

Matt Griffin, an attorney for the Nevada Resort Association, said that initiative backers acknowledged in a brief that it should make changes. That, Griffin argued, meant that they had to start over, and be subject to further legal challenges. Back to square one.

Maggie McLeatchy, attorney for Nevadans for a Fair 9% Gambling Revenue Tax, said it had suggested changes to the description to avoid further legal challenges.

“Obviously, this is to exploit the process — to file as many challenges as possible and drag this out,” she said after the hearing. “Our interest is in trying to get this in the hands of the voters.”